6 or 7 swollen lymph glands in neck

hi everyone , I am new here and wishing everyone is well and staying at home. I'm an 18yr old from bromley and a few days ago, I woke up suddenly one morning  and noticed two or three swollen lymph glands in left side of my neck.  since then, I cannot stop feeling around and yes, they are slightly sore and can move around, however, I've just started noticing more in the same area.  I don't know whether I'm just paranoid that they've multiplied or they've been there since the start,  but I was wondering if this is a cause for concern, since Google has made me extremely anxious that it is lymphoma or some other type of Cancer.  hope someone can shed some light on this or offer some advice on whether I could go to the doctors ,seeing as we are in the middle of a pandemic.

 

Thank you xx

  • Hiya sorry to hear about this .

    What the doctor will probably do in the first instance is tell you to wait and see if they go down over 4-8 weeks. If they are still up or getting worse then they usually look to move forward with other tests. They often like to give antibiotics to start too just incase you've got an infection as lymph nodes react to infection.

    With this in mind I would still contact your GP to let them know as they may want to do blood tests, but don't expect them to jump straight to scans. 

    They may do blood work for multiple other viral things such as STI/HIV/glandular fever and autoimmune disorders. Don't be alarmed at this but it can help rule out that it's not something else as these can also bring up your glands. 

    It can really help to keep a symptom diary. So start when you first noticed the lumps and then add anything, this will be really beneficial when it comes to speaking to your GP as it's so easy to forget things - in guilty of forgetting things and walking out afterwards going dammit. 

    Also if you're noticing any other symptomst thF aren't normal for you you should 100% bring this up too and keep a note of. Symptoms to be particularly aware of include (I'm sure you've seen online) :

    Itching

    Sweating especially at night

    Extreme fatigue

    Weight loss

    Rashes

    Aches and pains 

    Pain upon drinking alcohol

    Lumps in the groin and armpits

     

    There's a high chance it isn't lymphoma but do make sure you contact your gp. Lymphoma action charity is still urging people who are displaying symptoms or have concerns to get in touch with their healthcare providers. Whilst covid dominates the news it's no reason to put off or delay getting this looked into - the sooner the better. 

    I hope this helps and I hope it all turns out well for you.

    All the best

    Rose